Wesley Person tied a career high with 33 points, including 20 in
the decisive second quarter, and drained a team-record six
three-pointers in the first half as the Cleveland Cavaliers
destroyed the Toronto Raptors, 122-88.

Person had five three-pointers in the second period to tie a
club record set by Mark Price in 1989 and tied by Steve Kerr the
following year. Person scored 25 points by halftime, the most
by a Cavalier in one half this season, as Cleveland opened a
65-43 lead.

"The guys were looking for me in the second quarter and we
needed this win," Person said. "I felt I was on a roll, you can
feel it once you know you are in a zone. You make one and two,
and the next one feels like it is going in even before it ever
does go in. Then on the fourth and fifth shots it seems the rim
is getting bigger."

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 15 of his 21 points in the third
quarter and grabbed 17 rebounds for Cleveland, which has won
back-to-back games for the first time since January
31st-February 2nd. Brevin Knight handed out 17 assists for
Cleveland, which improved to 18-0 when scoring 100 points or
more while setting season highs for points in one half and in a
game.

Doug Christie scored 16 points for Toronto, which never
challenged the lead in the second half and trailed by as many as
38 points.

"It was just one of those games," Raptors coach Butch Carter
said. "We do a halfway job in the first quarter, then we let a
really good shooter, Person, get free in the second quarter and
he drops in 20. Everyone else we pretty much handled."

The Raptors were within striking distance at 25-24 late in the
first quarter when Oliver Miller hit a layup. But Cleveland
closed the period with six straight points to take the lead for
good.

Cedric Henderson, who scored 18 points, sparked that spurt with
a jumper and Bob Sura hit a layup to end the quarter, increasing
the lead to 31-24.

Cleveland led 43-34 early in the second period when Person
scored nine straight points for the Cavs in a 14-3 run. He had
two three-pointers in that burst before Shawn Kemp's three-point
play capped it, creating a 57-37 cushion with 4:14 left.

"Person was obviously huge," Cavaliers coach Mike Fratello said.
"When he's shooting the ball like that, it's such a dimension to
add to your team because they really have to extend to get out
to him and it opens up our inside game."

Person buried back-to-back three-pointers with less than three
minutes to go, pushing the lead to 63-41. Despite sitting out
the fourth quarter, Person was 11-of-14 from the field and
6-of-7 from behind the arc in 31 minutes.

"I was getting involved early," Person explained. "I think over
the last month or so I have let the game come to me too much. I
have to go out and force the action a little bit and get
involved in the first half."

The Cavaliers built their biggest lead, 105-67, on a basket by
Derek Anderson with 10:41 to play. Anderson had missed the last
15 games due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his
right knee and returned tonight to register 13 points and three
assists in 17 minutes off the bench. Cleveland went 6-9
without the rookie guard in the lineup.

"My knee feels good. I tried jumping on it and it was stable
and that was all I cared about," Anderson said. "I know I made
a difference in some way even if I did not come out and score 50
points."

Kemp contributed 10 points and seven boards for Cleveland, which
made 9-of-11 three-pointers and shot 55 percent (46-of-84) from
the field.

"That was a good all-around performance tonight," Fratello
concluded. "We got a lot of energy, we played with entusiasm
and did the little things we set out to do tonight."

Dee Brown scored 13 points and John Wallace chipped in 12 for
the Raptors, who have lost 12 of their last 15 games and own the
worst record in the Eastern Conference. Toronto, which fell to
3-8 all-time against the Cavaliers, shot 44 percent (33-of-75)
and was outrebounded, 47-29.

"We just had a number of defensive breakdowns, we were
scrambling all over the court," said Raptors guard Chauncey
Billups, who was 2-of-11 from the field. "We were trying to
rotate out and get him (Person), but he was just shooting it a
little bit quicker than we were getting out."